Sneaking Out
by chassecroise
Summary: Sneaking around has always been a part of Adrien Agreste's life. (ten 100 word drabbles following Adrien from the age of 6 to 24). Complete.


_**Author's Note**_ **:** I was just thinking about how sad Plagg was after he and Adrien weren't able to go to the movies together, and, well, this happened, lmao. Enjoy!

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 **1\. six**

When Adrien was little, his mother would take him for ice cream after school every Friday. They never told his father about it; it was their little secret. She liked to call it "sneaking out", even though Nathalie knew about it (she had been managing his schedule ever since he had started modeling from the age of 3, so she needed to know where he was at all times). Her favorite flavor was rose; his was caramel. They always went to the same place, a nondescript little shop in the 8th _arrondisement_ that nobody ever noticed, not even the tourists.

 **2\. eight**

A rich man's son, Adrien was a sheltered child, and was rarely allowed to go outside on his own unless he was accompanied by either Nathalie or the Gorilla. But he still had a taste for exploration, and when he couldn't get his mother to go along with his crazy schemes, he found his own way to seek out adventure. By the time he was eight years old, he already knew how to get on the roof of the mansion, and would often be found there at night, clutching his mother's old telescope. _Maman_ saw him once, but said nothing.

 **3\. ten**

One night, Maman snuck out without Adrien, and she never came back. Nobody knew where she was, not Nathalie, not the Gorilla, and especially not his father. Adrien hoped at first that it was all part of some strange and odd game, some crazy birthday surprise; but after six months went by, he realized it was no game, and that she was really gone. And after a year had passed, he stopped dreaming about it every other night. Even so, he never stopped hoping that she would sneak back into the mansion one night, as quietly as she had left.

 **4\. twelve**

Adrien had started taking on more high profile modeling assignments, even though he was not yet a teenager. Ever natural in front of a camera, the photographers loved how photogenic he was, and everyone on set always appreciated his sunny nature and polite demeanor. Still, despite his outwardly friendly façade, it was obvious to all the adults that the boy lived an isolated and lonely life, so they pretended not to notice whenever he made an excuse to call Nathalie and disappeared for half an hour, returning with tiny crumbs of pastries and croissants clinging lightly to his shirt collar.

 **5\. fourteen**

After Plagg came into his life, Adrien became a master of sneaking around. He wasn't sure whether it was the influence of the devil-may-care attitude the tiny black kwami possessed in spades or the knowledge that he now had the power to leap above the rooftops of Paris, but he suddenly felt far less shameless about sneaking food from the fridge and telling bald-faced lies to Nathalie and the Gorilla in order to go to the movies or hang out with the friends he had made since starting at Francoise-Dupont. It didn't matter either way. It was a great feeling.

 **6\. sixteen**

Being Chat Noir meant that Adrien spent most of his days sneaking around, trying to balance his civilian and superhero identities. Thankfully, he didn't have to do it alone; he had recently discovered that his beloved Ladybug was none other than his classmate Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and after three years of missed connections and lost opportunities, they were finally together, and often spent their free afternoons together, exploring parts of the city they had never seen before. And despite all the excitement that came along with being Chat Noir, Adrien thought there was nothing more exhilarating than spending time with Marinette.

 **7\. eighteen**

Plagg's craving for camembert was eternal. For some reason, the little kwami's appetite seemed to be correlated with Adrien's height, so by the time he crossed six feet, Plagg's demands were beginning to become unreasonable. Still, Adrien had to admit that even though he was no longer a young teenager, he got a kick out of sneaking into the kitchen at the Palace Hotel as Chat Noir and grabbing as many wheels of camembert as possible, even though it meant explaining to an exasperated Ladybug when they met up for their night patrol why he smelled so strongly of cheese.

 **8\. twenty**

Marinette had warned Adrien that Sabine and Tom were enthusiastic parents when they first began dating, but he never expected them to be this sneaky. Marinette had told them of his fondness for her mother's quiche and for croissants, so he wasn't surprised when his girlfriend showed up to his apartment on his birthday with a basket filled with goodies, but when she called him downstairs, he was overwhelmed with happiness to not only see the Dupain-Chengs, but all of his old school friends. Thanks to them, he was finally going to have the surprise party he'd always dreamed of.

 **9\. twenty-two**

Even though both Adrien and Marinette had revealed their secret identities to each other years ago, they still liked to visit each other at least once a week in their superhero alter egos, alternating every other time and sneaking onto each other's balconies with a sultry smile (Ladybug) or a terrible pick up line (Chat Noir). Ladybug never failed to make Adrien blush, but Chat Noir was still trying to find the perfect line. Still, from the way Marinette always grabbed his collar and pulled him into her room as soon as he arrived, it didn't really seem to matter.

 **10\. twenty-four**

He had promised himself that this would be the last time he would try to surprise Marinette, but as always, she predicted his every move before he could. So by the time he arrived at the rooftop where he had asked her to meet him, Ladybug was already waiting for him, smiling expectantly—and he knew she had been sneaking around, asking everyone about his plans. So he wasn't surprised when she smiled with contentment, rather than shock, when he kneeled down and pulled out the ring. It was just like her, and he wouldn't have it any other way.


End file.
